Book Review: The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible

One of my Christmas gifts from my parents this year was a medium-sized book with the lengthy title of:

The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible: Discoveries that Confirm the Reliability of Scripture.

It’s by two authors, Joseph M. Holden and Norman Geisler. I had never heard of Holden before, but had used some of Geisler’s books in research for some of my Bible classes in college, and was curious to see how this book was.

Once I started it, I was hooked.

The book reads a bit like a college textbook, but is written in a way that makes even the more technical parts understandable.

Even if you’re not a history nut like me, this is an excellent resource. It gives the arguments for and against the historicity of various Biblical events, people, and locations, and includes lots of pictures, charts, and diagrams which I personally found very helpful.

It also addresses many of the popular arguments against the historicity of the Bible in detail and shows how many of these arguments are based solely on circular reasoning or arguments from silence.

While the archaeological discoveries relating to the people, places, and events of the Bible are not necessary to our faith in God and His Word, it is nevertheless exciting to read about the real places and artifacts that have been discovered which confirm what we already believe by faith.

This is a thorough overview of those discoveries and their significance in light of the historical facts God has preserved for us in the Bible.

I definitely recommend this book!